Dynamics of Economic Development in the Sura River Valley, 1st Millennium CE. Part 1: Stratigraphic Analysis of Floodplain and Gully Sediments

The article summarizes the results of a comprehensive landscape-archaeological study of the dynamics of human-environmental interaction in the Middle Sura region during the first millennium AD. The data resulted from the study of the River Sura floodplain at the former confluence of the Sura and the Malaya Sarka. The analysis of the sediments and buried soils indicates that the period between the first millennium BC and the first millennium AD saw a series of climatic cycles changing each other, with the floodplain periodically being available for various types of economic development. The Early Iron Age (first millennium BC – 2nd–3rd centuries AD) saw the formation of grey forest soils in the part of the floodplain under study. During this period, the area remained uninhabited, while the population was involved in the development of the elevated terraces and riverbanks. In contrast, in the second quarter of the first millennium AD the floodplain covered at the time by broadleaf forest had the most favorable conditions for settlement; the area was developed by the population that belonged to the Middle Volga variant of the Kiev culture. Their economic activity resulted in the gradual deforestation of the floodplain, with meadow landscapes arising instead of the forest. The second half of the 5th century saw drastic intensification of the floods and an increased runoff. The sites assigned to this period represent the developed stage of the Imen´kovo culture; these were located on the elevated terraces. The new stage of low flooding dates to the medieval period (8th–13th centuries), the soils bearing traces of steppe formation and subsequent development of the floodplain. Later, in the late Middle Age and the early Modern period, tillage shifted to watersheds and intensified, while the accumulation of layered alluvial deposits on the floodplain started again, with frequent and intense floods taking place. The study of the dynamics of the moistening of the Sura floodplain is asynchronous with the data of other studied regions of the Russian Plain, which raises the question of a relationship between the availability of floodplains for economic development and migration processes.

1. Aleksandrovsky A. L., Aleksandrovskaya E. I. Soil Evolution and Geographic Environment. Moscow: Nauka, 2005. 221 p. (In Russ.)

2. Aleksandrovsky A. L., Glasko M. P. Interaction of alluvial and soil formation processes at different stages of the flood plains development during the Holocene (The rivers of the central part of the East European Plain as an example). Geomorfologiya. 2014. No. 4. Pp. 3–17. (In Russ.)

3. Alexandrovsky A., Ershova E., Ponomarenko E., Krenke N., Skripkin V. Floodplain paleosols of Moskva River Basin: Chronology and paleoenvironment. Radiocarbon. 2018. No. 60 (4). Pp. 1169–1184. (In Eng.)

4. Bakin O. V., Panova N. K., Antipina T. G. History of Pestrechinsky peat bog: Holocene in Tatarstan. In: Archaeology and Natural Sciences of Tatarstan. Vol. 4. Kazan: Foliant; Märcani Institute of History, 2011. Pp. 202–216. (In Russ.)

5. Benito G., Macklin M. G., Panin A. et al. Recurring flood distribution patterns related to short-term Holocene climatic variability. Scientific Reports. 2015. Vol. 5. Report no. 16398(1) (In Eng.)

6. Butakov G. P., Kurbanova S. G., Panin A. V., Perevoshchikov A. A., Serebrennikova I. A. Rivers of the Russian Plain: Formation of anthropogenic slit deposit. In: Erosional and Channel Processes. Vol. 3. Moscow: Moscow State University, 2000. Pp. 78–92. (In Russ.)

7. Galimova M. Sh. et al. Environment and economic activity of the Pestretsy 2 site inhabitants on the Mesha River. The Volga River Region Archaeology. 2016. No. 3 (17). Pp. 168–193. (In Russ.)

8. Istomin K. E., Vyazov L. A., Salova Yu. A. Exploring settlement II at Novaya Kiremet. In: Archaeological Discoveries of 2015. Moscow: Nauka, 2017. Pp. 324–326. (In Russ.)

9. IUSS Working Group WRB. 2015. World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, update 2015 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. World Soil Resources Reports No. 106. FAO, Rome. (In Eng.)

10. Kaal J. et al. Long-term deforestation in NW Spain: Linking the Holocene fire history to vegetation change and human activities. Quaternary Science Reviews. 2011. Vol. 30. No. 1–2. Pp. 161–175. (In Eng.)

11. Khalimullina L. R. The Migration Period in the Bolshoy Cheremshan River Basin: Cultural features revisited. In: The Fifty Second Ural-Volga Archaeological Conference of Students and Young Scientists (UPASK). Conference proceedings. Perm: Perm State University, 2020. Pp. 217–220. (In Russ.)

12. Krenke N. A. Archaeology of floodplains: Terrain, paleoenvironment, population history. Seminar concept. In: Aleksandrovsky A. L., Krenke N. A. (eds.) Archaeology of Floodplains: Terrain, Paleoenvironment, Population History. Seminar theses (Moscow; April 23, 2019). Institute of Archeology (RAS). Moscow: KDU, Universitetskaya Kniga, 2019. Pp. 8–9. (In Russ.)

13. Kurbanova S. G. The Vyatka and Middle Volga basins: Paleogeographic significance of buried soils within minor river floodplains. In: Productive Forces of the Nonchernozem Urals. Physical and Geographical Essentials of Development and Distribution. Perm: Perm State University, 1991. Pp. 118–122. (In Russ.)

14. Mozzherin V. I., Kurbanova S. G. The Middle Volga: Anthropogenic Activity and Erosional-Chanel Systems. Kazan: ArtDizayn, 2004. 128 p. (In Russ.)

15. Myasnikov N. S. Ethnocultural Processes in the Chuvash Volga Area, 1st to 8th Centuries AD: An Archaeological Perspective. Annual report (2013). Cheboksary: Chuvash state Institute of Humanities, 2013. 72 p. (In Russ.)

16. Myasnikov N. S. New findings of the Ananyino era from Chuvashia. In: The World of Ananyino Culture. Origins, Development, Ties, Historical Destinies. Archaeology of Eurasian Steppes. Vol.20. Kazan: Otechestvo, 2014. Pp. 276–280. (In Russ.)

17. Panin A., Matlakhova E. Fluvial chronology in the East European Plain over the last 20 ka and its palaeohydrological implications. Catena. 2015. No. 130. Pp. 46–61. (In Eng.)

18. Panin A. V. et al. Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper river system and its palaeogeographic implications. Geochronometria. 2014. No. 41 (3). Pp. 278–293. (In Eng.)

19. Ponomarenko E. V. et al. Approaches to the reconstruction of dynamic of the territory occupation according to the soil signs. The Volga River Region Archaeology. 2015. No. 1 (11). Pp. 126–160. (In Russ.)

20. Ponomarenko E. et al. Tracing land use history using a combination of soil charcoal and soil pollen analysis: An example from colluvial deposits of the Middle Volga Region. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 2020. Vol. 31. Report no. 102269. (In Eng.)

21. Rudenko K. A. Occurrence of cities Volga Bulgaria and Bulgars areas of the Gold Horde (according to archaeology). The Volga River Region Archaeology. 2012. No. 1 (1). Pp. 68–77. (In Russ.)

22. Rudenko K. A. Volga Bulgaria, 11th to Early 13th Centuries: Settlements and Material Culture. Kazan: Shkola, 2007. … p. (In Russ.)

23. Scherer, S., Höpfer, B., Deckers, K. et al. Middle Bronze Age land use practices in the north-western Alpine foreland — A multi-proxy study of colluvial deposits, archaeological features and peat bogs. EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr. 2021, EGU21-15578. (In Eng.)

24. Sitdikov A. G., Vyazov L. A., Ponomarenko E. V., Rodinkova V. E. International theoretical and practical workshop on application of paleo-ecological methods in archaeology (Bolgar, 9-19 August 2016). The Volga River Region Archaeology. 2016. No. 3 (17). Pp. 251–255. (In Russ.)

25. Stashenkov D. A. Samara Forest-Steppe of the Volga Region, 1st–5th Centuries CE: Sedentary Population Reviewed. Moscow: Institute of Archaeology (RAS), Alabin Samara Oblast Museum of Local History and Lore, 2005. 150 p. (In Russ.)

26. Sycheva S.A. Little climatic Holocene optimum and the Little Ice Age in the memory of soils and deposits of riversэ floodplains of the Russian plains. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk. Seriya Geograficheskaya. 2011. No. 1. Pp. 79–93. (In Russ.)

27. Sycheva S. A. Rhythmic development of floodplains in the Holocene: Paleosoil and archaeological evidence. In: Aleksandrovsky A. L., Krenke N. A. (eds.) Archaeology of Floodplains: Terrain, Paleoenvironment, Population History. Seminar theses (Moscow; April 23, 2019). Institute of Archeology (RAS). Moscow: KDU, Universitetskaya Kniga, 2019. Pp. 83–88. (In Russ.)

28. Vorobyov A. Yu. Morpholithogenesis in the Floodplain Part of the Oka River Valley (Middle Reaches): Types and Features. Cand. Sc. (geography) thesis. Moscow, 2018. 234 p. (In Russ.)

29. Vyazov L. A. et al. Studies of the archaeological sites in the Middle and Lower Sura Region as a part of the work of the international archaeological expedition in 2015−2019. Arkheologiia Evraziiskikh Stepei (Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes). 2020. No. 3. Pp. 354–373. (In Russ.)

30. Vyazov L. A., Ershova E. G., Ponomarenko E. V., Gajewski K., Blinnikov M. S., Sitdikov A. G. Demographic changes, trade routes, and the formation of anthropogenic landscapes in the Middle Volga Region in the past 2500 years. In: Yang L. E. et al. (eds.) Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road. Springer International Publishing, 2019. Pp. 425-465. (In Eng.)

31. Vyazov L. A., Grishakov V. V., Myasnikov N. S. Features of ceramic complexes of the Great Migration period monuments in of the Middle Sura Region. Voyadzher: mir i chelovek. 2016. No. 6. Pp. 66–111. (In Russ.)

32. Vyazov L. A., Semykin Yu. A. Hillfort and Settlement of Novaya Bedenga: The Migration Period in Ulyanovsk Area of the Volga Region. Series ‘Volga Region: Archaeology of Simbirsk (Ulyanovsk)’. Vol. 1. Ulyanovsk: Karamzin Institute of History and Culture, 2016. 227 p. (In Russ.)

33. Vyazov L. A., Stashenkov D. A. Samara and Ulyanovsk areas of the Volga Region during the Migration Period: Cultural and chronological population groups. In: Historical and Cultural Heritage as a Resource to Shape Sociohistorical Memory of Civil Society. The Fourteenth Bader Readings. Izhevsk: Udmurtiya Univ. Press, 2013. Pp. 49-56. (In Russ.)